Aftershocks
by Skylark Starflower
Summary: When M-O takes his robot friends to meet his human friend, the resulting mess turns his world upside down. Lame, but there ya are. A summary. Tee hee.


Author's Note/Disclaimer: I don't own WALL-E, it belongs to Pixar/Disney. I'm just borrowing the characters for a bit of fun, is all. Liz is of my own creation, however. If you want to borrow her for some odd reason, please ask first?

This ended up being longer than I thought. It picks up pretty much immediately after M-O's First Mud Puddle. After this story, I'll be giving M-O a break for a couple fics, to focus on VN-GO and GO-4. Time for me to pick on someone else for a little while. Tee hee hee. I rated this fic a bit higher due to a rather violent flashback scene. It might not be as bad as it seems to me, and I found it pretty disturbing when I wrote it, but better safe than sorry, ya know? Once again, English is in "quotes", code is in _italics_. Oh, and see if you can spot the MST3K reference! I couldn't resist it. Anyway, that's about all I've got to say about that. Enjoy!

"**Aftershocks"  
****By Skylark Starflower  
****Started March 22, 2009  
****Finished March 31, 2009**

The bots continued playing in the mud for quite a while, but eventually the day wore on, and the mud dried, leaving most of them coated in a thick layer of dirt. Tired of being dirty, they came to M-O, hoping he would wash them off, as he once had. This time, however, he refused. Instead, he gestured to the Axiom, the direction in which the humans were setting up their settlement.

_Follow me, there's someone I'd like you to meet!_

Leaving WALL-E and EVE behind with BURN-E and SUPPLY-R, M-O led the group of reject bots to the star liner. It was the first time since he had met the human girl that he had gone looking for Liz, and he hoped she wouldn't mind all the friends he was bringing. After all, she had been the one to suggest it. Though, he didn't really know where to begin looking for her.

When he reached the area where all the work was being done, he slowed to a stop, the other bots crowding around him. There were so many people moving around, M-O started to wonder how he was ever going to find just one.

_So… where's this friend of yours?_ Asked VN-GO.

Before M-O could answer, the solution presented itself. One of the humans looked up, noticing the group of bots, and recognizing M-O. She waved to him.

"Lis!" His sound system still didn't like the zed sound, but he didn't care. He began making his way over to her, gesturing for the others to follow. Reaching the young human's side, he looked up at her happily, and pointed to the rest. "Friends!"

"Wow, there's so many of you!" Liz's voice was tinged with something akin to wonder. "And you're all so filthy! I suppose you want me to clean you, huh?"

"Please?" M-O's voice was almost drowned out by the squabble from the other bots as they all chimed in with greetings. VN-GO was being his usual rowdy and rude self, demanding a cleaning in code. M-O shot him a dirty look, even though Liz couldn't understand what the paint bot was saying, anyway.

"Well…" Liz stood and looked around. "I still have to finish my chores first. Would you all mind helping me? The sooner I get done, the sooner I can wash you!"

The resulting chorus of agreement was almost deafening. The bots were all ready and raring to go, but they fell silent as an odd look crossed the young girl's face. Liz pointed to where M-O had stopped earlier. No one had noticed when D-FIB had hung back, and now she was hovering uncertainly just beyond the settlement.

"Is that robot with you?" Liz asked, pointing.

M-O waved to her. _Aren't you coming?_

D-FIB shook herself, her movements making it clear to M-O that she was afraid, though he didn't know why. He cocked his head at her. _What's wrong?_

She didn't reply right away, backing nervously away from the milling humans. _I… I'm sorry!_ Without another word, she turned and bolted, disappearing in the direction of WALL-E's trailer.

M-O blinked in confusion. He wasn't sure if he should follow her or not, but the choice was made for him when VN-GO, who hadn't been paying attention like usual, came around and started pushing the little cleaner back towards Liz.

_Come ON, man! Let's get the mud off, already!_

Distracted, M-O allowed the paint bot to turn him about until he and the other rejects were back with Liz. He wasn't really paying attention as Liz doled out jobs for the bots, but he did notice his had something to do with cleaning. Figured.

Though he wanted to find out what was wrong with D-FIB, M-O still felt obligated to stay and help Liz. He followed the group as Liz led them away, glancing over his shoulder in the direction D-FIB had disappeared in, and resolved to talk to her about it once he got back. It was the best he could do.

Even working together, the human girl's chores still took time to complete, so it was rather late in the day before she was able to even get to cleaning the bots as she had promised. She had even found a bucket, sponge and some soap this time.

"There ya are, all nice and shiny and clean!" she announced once she was done.

All of the bots were pleased with the cleaning, BRL-A shaking himself dry all over the others, who yelped in protest.

_Sorry_, he said sheepishly.

"Thanks!" said M-O, waving his brush happily at Liz. She patted him on the head and smiled at him.

"You're welcome. It's time for me to getting home now, so I'll see you all later, okay?"

There was a chorus of goodbyes from the bots, both in English and code, some of the bots not being able to approximate any English at all.

_Your friend is pretty cool_, said VN-GO. The paint bot wandered next to M-O as they made the trip back to WALL-E's trailer. The rest of the reject horde had already scattered, though it didn't matter to M-O where they went. He nodded enthusiastically.

_Yeah. I wonder if all the humans are as nice as she is. I hope so.  
__  
_VN-GO hummed. _Humans can be fickle, dude. They don't always like change, I can tell you that._

_Liz isn't fickle!_

VN-GO paused, glancing down to the little bot next to him._ I never said that. Just saying, you should be careful who you trust._

M-O looked at VN-GO for a moment before responding. _Yeah, I guess you're right. Still, they can't all be bad, right?_

VN-GO hummed again but said nothing. Suddenly, he stopped and his head shot up as high as he could extend it. He looked around, something grabbing at his attention, though M-O couldn't tell what that could be. The sneaky chuckle however, was a hint that the paint bot was up to something.

Without another word, the ADHD bot took off in another direction. M-O just sighed and shook his head. If VN-GO wanted to get into trouble, that was his business. The cleaner bot wanted no part of it. Besides, he still had to find D-FIB now, and see what was wrong with her.

When he got back, M-O found that SUPPLY-R and BURN-E were just leaving. The hole in the roof was fixed and the two bots were needed elsewhere. He waved politely as they passed by on their way back to the settlement, but didn't pay much attention after that, intent on finding D-FIB.

She wasn't hard to locate. Entering WALL-E's trailer, he found WALL-E and EVE both inside with her, trying to calm her down. She still seemed as antsy as she had back at the settlement, and nothing the two bots did seemed to help any.

"M-O!" Upon spotting him, D-FIB seemed to perk up, but her tone was accusing. _How could you do that?_

He was taken aback. _Do what? What did I do?_

_You never said we were going to see humans!_

Now M-O was really confused. _I didn't think that would be a problem._

_Yeah, well, you were wrong._ With that, D-FIB zipped over M-O's head and out of the truck. He watched her go, still confused and a little hurt. WALL-E just sighed, giving M-O a consoling pat. Girls could be hard to figure sometimes.

The cleaner bot was about to go after her again when EVE stopped him, shaking her head. _Let her calm down first. She'll be more willing to talk about it on her own terms. Plus, we don't want you getting zapped again._

M-O sighed and stared at the floor. He almost wished they could go back to the way things had been before WALL-E's arrival on the Axiom, before everything had gotten complicated. That was impossible, however, and he didn't really want it, anyway. As simple as that life had been, it has also been rather dull. He'd take the complications if it meant really being able to live.

Dusk was falling, and the other bots had begun to wander back for the night. PR-T and BRL-A were laughing about some secret only the two of them shared. VN-GO was snickering over whatever mischief he had gotten into. The others just seemed run down and ready for a rest. Only one bot was missing. D-FIB failed to return. Even after the sun had set, the stars shining as best they could through the haze and cloud cover, she didn't come back.

WALL-E waited later than usual, giving her time to return, before giving up and closing the trailer door. The bots started to settle in for the night, but M-O couldn't rest. He watched Hal scuttling about, the cockroach the only thing stirring now. It was a good thing the robots didn't always need to rest, because M-O wasn't going to be able to that night.

X X X

M-O was pacing. It was the first thing the rest of the bots saw as they woke. Hal was scuttling along beside him, fascinated by his movements. It didn't take them long to realise why he was doing so. D-FIB still had not returned. The little cleaning droid was worried about her, though he wasn't really sure why. She could take care of herself, and it wasn't like there was really much out there that could or would do her harm.

He turned to the others when he noticed they were watching him. _…I'm going to go look for her._

WALL-E nodded. Though he didn't understand a word M-O had said, he could tell by the conviction in the little bot's voice what he wanted. Going over to the door, he pulled the latch to open it. M-O waited impatiently as it slowly ground open, scooting out before it even reached the earth, jumping down the last couple feet before taking off in the direction he last saw D-FIB head in.

M-O really didn't know where to start looking. D-FIB could have gone anywhere, but he was determined to find her. He just hoped that when he did, she was still in one piece and full working order. If something had happened to her, he would never forgive himself, especially since it was his fault she was missing in the first place.

"D-FIB!" He followed the dried out harbour, calling her name and hoping she would answer, but she never did. Heading into the city, he tried again, but his voice only echoed back to him through the vast, empty spaces.

He spent hours searching, growing more and more worried as he failed to find the missing bot. Where could she have gone? His only real hope was that she was okay, heard him calling but didn't answer because she was still angry. That hope wasn't very reassuring.

M-O hadn't been built with thoughts of his ever setting foot, or perhaps in this case, wheel, on Earth, and so lacked alarms to warn him of dangers specific to the planet. He didn't have a sandstorm warning system.

He wasn't taken completely by surprise by the fast approaching storm, but by the time he noticed it, he had no time to find cover. There wasn't much to be had in the barren expanse of nothing he had been crossing at the time, anyway. He was in for some deep hurting.

Scouring sands overtook him as he raced towards the closest cover, still miles away. With a squeal of fear, he involuntarily collapsed into himself, protecting his more exposed parts. The sand was still working its way into his joints, causing him extreme discomfort, but he knew if he couldn't find some sort of shelter soon, he could be seriously damaged.

Finding a rock that was slightly bigger than he was, he tucked himself into the lee and sat there, shaking. It was the best cover he could find, unable to risk staying in the direct path of the sandstorm any longer. Still shivering in fear, he boxed into himself as far as he could, intent on waiting out the storm. It was all he could do.

X X X

The storm raged on for almost two hours. There were only eight bots sheltering in WALL-E's truck, the only ones to make it back in time. Neither M-O nor D-FIB had returned, and now everyone was worried, hoping wherever the two had ended up, they were safe.

When the storm finally broke, it was VN-GO who first brought up the idea of splitting into search parties. A tapping sound came from the door of the truck as they were organizing. Quickly, WALL-E raced over to open it, hoping it would be one or, better yet, both of their missing friends on the other side.

He was in luck. D-FIB came zipping inside, chattering a mile a minute. _Is everyone okay? I'm sorry if I worried you, I was at the Axiom, and I'm fine!_

_We're okay, we were just about to go out and look for you and M-O_, replied BRL-A.

D-FIB stopped short._ M-O's not here?_

_Nope! He went out looking for you this morning and hasn't come back yet,_ said VN-GO, his tone almost cheerful.

If she had been human, she would have gone pale. _You mean… he could have been out in that mess? We have to find him!_ She turned to leave again, but VN-GO moved to stop her.

_Not by yourself. I'll go with you. We don't need you disappearing again._

_Yeah, sure, let's go!_ D-FIB went out the door, VN-GO doing his best to keep up, since the hovering bot was faster, especially over the rougher parts of the terrain.

_Slow down, dude!_

D-FIB didn't really listen to him, zipping back and forth to check every nook and cranny she saw. If M-O had been caught in the storm, it would be her fault. She hadn't been fair to him, overreacting to something that hadn't even been his fault. He couldn't have known about her phobia. If something had happened to him, she didn't know what she would do.

"M-O!" The positions had been reversed. Now he was the one missing and she was desperately searching for him. VN-GO helped as best he could, unable to keep up with the frantic medical bot half the time.

The two didn't go into the city, instead checking the barren areas, figuring if M-O were in trouble, it was more likely he would be out in the open. In the city, he would probably be okay, being able to take cover in any one of the buildings in the area.

It didn't take long before they found the field where M-O had been caught. VN-GO was the first to spot him, a dirty white speck moving against the dusty reds and browns of the earth. _Hey, D-FIB! I found him, he's over here!_ The paint bot pointed him out before lifting his head and waving it. _M-O! Over here!_

D-FIB didn't wait for M-O to reach them, zipping over to meet him. As she got closer, she began to suspect that something was wrong. He wasn't moving very fast, or indeed very straight. In fact, he was wobbling all over the place, almost as if he were drunk.

_Are you okay, M-O?_

He didn't reply, and she noticed something else worrying. His eyes were flickering, like he couldn't keep them open. VN-GO caught up just in time to see them blink out as M-O toppled over. So much sand had gotten into the disinfectant pack on his back that now mud was oozing slowly from it.

"M-O!" D-FIB panicked and tried the first thing to come to mind. Reaching out a paddle she gave him a jolt. It didn't accomplish anything, but she tried again anyway.

VN-GO stopped her as she tried for a third time. _What is up with you and zapping him? That's not going to help, we need to get him to the Repair Ward!_

_Help me pick him up!_

Between the two bots, they managed to get the little cleaner to lie across D-FIB's paddles. _Let the others know what's going on while I take him to the Axiom!_

VN-GO nodded the affirmative and watched D-FIB as she took off before he turned and headed back to WALL-E's truck at top speed.

X X X

_Hmm…tricky, but not impossible. He'll be fine, but the cleaning will take time. He has picked up a lot of sand and it has choked much of his system._

D-FIB sagged with visible relief at the assessment. She knew from experience that the bots from the Axiom's Repair Ward were the best. _Thank Asimov._

_If you don't mind our asking, what was he doing out in the sandstorm in the first place?_

She was reluctant to answer the question, quietly watching as he was fitted with the Repair Ward's signature red boot. That startled her, and she changed the subject. _What are you doing? I thought those weren't in use anymore?_

_On the contrary. _As one arm activated the boot, a second produced an air hose, step one of M-O's repair. _We have to open sensitive parts to clean them. Were he to reactivate in the process and try to move, he could further damage himself. Think of it as humans use anaesthetic. _

_That does make sense…_

_Indeed._

Silence fell as the multiple arms of the Repair Ward robots set to the task of cleaning the sand from the malfunctioning microbe obliterator. D-FIB didn't doubt the assessment, but still ended up hovering back and forth nervously.

_D-FIB unit 015?_

She stopped, taken by surprise. "Yes?"

_You escaped from us before you were fully repaired. If you would like, we could complete that task now._

"I…" She paused, contemplating. A lot of the robots who had once been considered rejects simply due to a personality problem, some "glitch" in their software, were now considered perfectly normal. They fit into the newly forming robot society. However, her problem was hardware related. Her paddles had been broken long ago. While she was still considered a reject, she never really felt like she deserved that title. Not bot really had, but in this case, it wasn't her fault she had gotten broken. _Yes, I think I would like that._

Another arm which had been idle before now guided her to a familiar spot in the ward, the same spot she had been occupying the day WALL-E had arrived. She recalled the events warmly, how she had taken that chance to run and be free once more, after almost 690 years. She had been inactive for such a long time.

The same arm that had guided her now began to prod at her paddles, testing them. On her first visit, the shock test had already been completed. She still remembered the way the practice dummy had burst into flames with each jolt.

_As long as you do not move too much, you should not require a boot. This should not take long._

She held still as the delicate instruments began work, but she was more interesting in knowing how M-O was doing. She couldn't see him from her new angle, and she couldn't move while the repair bot worked. The sudden voice of the repair bots distracted her.

_May we ask why you ran that day?_

She didn't reply right away. She wasn't sure she wanted to tell the Repair Ward bots, but after a moment, she decided it couldn't hurt anything to tell the truth. _I didn't want to be fixed. If I were fixed, they'd put me back to work._

_We do not understand. Would that not have been a good thing?_

_I…don't like being around humans._

The only reply she got to that was a hum, and the bots went silent as they worked. It didn't take very long, only about twenty minutes, for the repair bots to fix her. Several components from her paddles had to be replaced, but it was fairly routine work, easily accomplished. Once they were done, the test dummy was brought out once more, and she was instructed to give it a jolt to test the job.

One, two, three. Several jolts later and the dummy was still in one piece, and hadn't caught fire. She was working properly again, once more able to control the amount of electricity flowing through her paddles.

_You have been repaired. You may go now._

_Thank you._ The happy feeling of being fixed faded quickly as she went to check on M-O. Even after all this time, the repair bots were still removing the sand from him. While one arm worked the air hose, blowing out as much sand as it could, another had the cleaner bot's disinfectant pack removed and was taking the mud out.

D-FIB knew sand removal was only the start of the process; afterwards he would need his circuits checked, in case any had been blown or otherwise damaged. He would also need any moving parts that were gummed up with sand cleaned out and oiled.

With a sigh, she reverted back to her previous state of nervousness. She liked M-O, but until now, she hadn't really understood how she was feeling. Though she had seen the examples set by WALL-E and EVE, and then BRL-A and PR-T, it was an entirely different experience to actually feel it. She loved M-O, and it was her fault that he was here. However, before she could get really depressed, the door to the Repair Ward opened to admit her friends, all eight of them immediately wanting to know M-O's status.

_He'll be fine,_ she quickly assured them. _But he's still in repairs._

BRL-A, being the tallest of the bots, was the first to see M-O as the arms of the repair bots worked on him. He shuddered, recalling his own time in the ward, and the way those same arms had once tried to force him closed when he didn't want to be. Since the repair bots themselves had been fixed, after WALL-E had blasted them by accident with EVE's ion cannon, they were slightly less rough about their methods of repair.

Accepting what D-FIB told them, the other bots set about waiting. VN-GO started to create a grand mural on the wall, WALL-E teasing him by smudging the paint with his shovel-like hands. BRL-A, PR-T, L-T, HAN-S and VAQ-M all started a game they had come up with when they had first landed in the Repair Ward: Pester the Orderlies. While those arms too were a part of the main hub of the Repair Ward, they could still function separately from the fixing arms, so the five bots didn't have to worry about getting in the way of M-O's maintenance.

EVE went to D-FIB's side and gave her a reassuring pat. Her expression became worried when all this managed to elicit was an electronic sniffle. _Are you okay?_

_He wouldn't be here if it weren't for me._

_No. He wouldn't be here if it weren't for him._

D-FIB had to pause for a moment. _What do you mean?_

_It was his choice to go out looking for you. And it's his fault he didn't check the Axiom first. If he had been thinking, that should have been the first place he looked._

As soon as she heard it, D-FIB knew it was the truth, but it still didn't make her feel better. In fact, it made her angry, but she knew better than to talk back to EVE. The probe bot's fiery temper and quick trigger finger made that a rather dangerous choice. Instead, D-FIB just sighed, turning her anger on herself.

_I shouldn't have been so stupid. I should have just told him the truth instead of running away…_

_Then tell him once he's repaired. Don't put things off for too long, because you may lose your only chance._

_You're right… Thanks, EVE._

EVE simply patted her again before turning her attention back to the rest of the bots. She rolled her eyes as she watched VN-GO and WALL-E now smudging each other with paint, and the rest of the group driving the orderlies batty.

It took a long time for the Repair Ward bots to complete M-O's repairs, wanting to be certain that most if not all of the sand was gone. After that, his parts were cleaned and oiled; circuits were checked and replaced as needed. A quick diagnostic was run, and when it turned up no problems, the boot's yellow button was pushed to bring the little cleaner back online.

For a moment, it appeared as though nothing had happened, but then M-O's eyes blinked on. It took him a moment to get his bearings as he pushed himself upright. _W…what am I doing in the Repair Ward?_

He knew where he was, but his memory had yet to catch up. D-FIB didn't care, so glad she was to see him awake again, she couldn't help herself. Zipping over to his side, she wrapped her paddles around him, brought her eye screen level with his and let a spark pass between them.

M-O blinked and, as D-FIB giggled and removed her paddles from his middle, he lost his balance and toppled over onto his front. He hadn't known what to expect, but that certainly hadn't been it.

D-FIB giggled again as the other bots noticed and joined in with a chorus of laughter. If M-O had been human, his face would have been burning. It was one thing to be surprised by a kiss, but another entirely to be laughed at for it.

Recovering himself quickly, he started waving his scrub brush angrily at the others, which just amused them more. D-FIB wrapped a paddle around him again, startling him. _It's okay, let them laugh._

Surprisingly, he calmed down, leaning into her side. What the others thought didn't really matter compared to the way he felt when she hugged him. He had realised how he had been getting attached to her over the last few days, but until now, he hadn't really understood it. Seeing it and feeling it were two entirely different things.

_You may all leave now._ The voice of the Repair Ward bots sounded strained. There was only so much it could put up with at a time.

_Come on._ D-FIB hooked a paddle into M-O's scrub brush and practically dragged him out of the Repair Ward, giggling again, not caring what the other bots did. M-O allowed her to lead him to wherever she was taking him. He was too happy to care.

The trip was actually fairly short, ending in one of the now strangely empty robot corridors. M-O couldn't help it, not understanding why she had brought him here, of all places. _What are we doing here?_

She sighed, and the pain carried by that sound really hurt M-O. He felt bad for asking, but curiosity kept him from withdrawing the question.

_I haven't been fair to you. You deserve the truth. It's because of something that happened here that I don't like humans._

X X X

She was a fairly new robot, only ten years off the production line, and one of the first built during the Axiom's initial year in space. She wondered if something really were wrong with her.

The Axiom housed enough humans to qualify as a city in its own right, and they required many robots to help them in their daily chores. These robots weren't meant to have feelings or personalities, they were only supposed to do what they were made for; follow their directives.

D-FIB unit 015 had developed a personality. She had ideas and opinions, likes and dislikes, but she didn't feel broken. As she travelled down the halls dedicated to the robots, she wondered how many of the other seemingly lifeless bots were like her; fully aware of their surroundings, but afraid to admit it for fear of what may come of it.

She was on her way back to the hospital ward after routine maintenance and recharging, pretending for another day to be a directive driven drone. If only she had known that this day would change her life forever.

As she zipped around a corner, she ran into a BRL-A unit in front of her and came to a stop, to robot behind her bumping into her as the whole like came to a halt. The BRL-A unit had been stopped by a young human, male as far as D-FIB could tell. There were two other boys off to the side, and each one was holding some sort of weapon.

In the early years of the Axiom's launch, there had been problems on the ship with crime, before the humans had gotten so lazy. It was the reason why the steward bots were known as SECUR-T. In the early days, they were the star liner's police force. Unfortunately, there were none present at the moment.

There was quite a line up forming behind the umbrella bot, but it still couldn't move. The human wouldn't get off the line. He found the situation quite amusing.

"Heh hee hee… Stupid robots." He poked the BRL-A unit, but the robot didn't react. "Can't go anywhere off the lines. It would be so easy just to go around me, don'tcha think, stupid bot?"

The three boys laughed. D-FIB had been patiently waiting for them to move, but their attitudes were starting to get on her nerves. She wanted badly to be able to give them a piece of her mind, but if she were to jump off the line, she'd be labelled a reject for sure, and the Repair Ward frightened her. So she stayed where she was and continued to act as expected.

"Hey, watch this, guys!"

What the boy did next would haunt D-FIB for the rest of her robotic life. He had found a hatchet somewhere, and now swung this weapon at the BRL-A unit. It hacked through near the base, severing the umbrella from the rest of the bot.

All of the robots in the passage stopped as the broken BRL-A unit let out a sudden shriek, as if in pain, before its severed umbrella toppled over across two more lines, the hacked end sparking.

The human boys laughed as they set upon the broken robot and began to take it apart. The one with the hatchet was now chopping the umbrella segment into pieces as the others began to destroy the base with their blunt objects, smashing it to bits.

D-FIB was horrified and angered by the brutal and unprovoked attack, and was disappointed to see that none of the other robots in the hall seemed to care. In fact, traffic had begun to move again along the unblocked lines only seconds after the initial pause, no bot even pausing a second to take in the situation.

She couldn't help herself. Leaving the line, she zipped forward and placed her paddles on the shoulder of one of the hoodlums. "Clear!" She gave the little brute a full charge jolt, knocking him over with a yelp.

"Oy, back off!"

She didn't see the bat coming, and it smashed across her paddles with a distressing crunching noise. She was flung backwards into a wall, falling to the floor as she temporarily lost power to her hovering unit. She was sure she would be destroyed like the poor BRL-A unit as the three teens turned on her.

"Halt!"

Suddenly, the boys were being restrained by red force beams. The SECUR-T units had finally arrived at the scene and were now taking charge. The three restraining the human boys turned to leave, taking their charges off to the Axiom's prison ward. Several others were clearing the broken BRL-A unit from the lines, getting traffic back on its way.

One turned to D-FIB and, without a word, lifted her from the floor with its force beam and set her back on the line. She had regained power to her hover unit so she was able to move again, but she hesitated for a moment. The SECUR-T unit just looked at her before she finally turned around and continued on her way.

X X X

_I didn't realise then that I was broken. It wasn't until I went back to work that I found out. One of the nurses noticed I was sparking when I put my paddles together. I'm not supposed to do that. So, they stopped me from working, and I don't know why, but instead of sending me straight to the Repair Ward, they shut me down. Improperly, I might add. I was put away into storage and forgotten about, but I was completely aware the whole time. I couldn't do anything about it, but I was awake for every minute of it. That's almost 690 years, M-O! Do you have any idea what that's like?_

The little cleaner didn't know what to say. Even if he hadn't come to love her the way he did, her story still would have broken his heart. He sidled up to her and pressed up against her, wishing he had arms he could hug with. Fortunately, she understood what he was trying to do and wrapped her paddles around him, her distress fading a little at the touch.

_They might never have found me if it weren't for GO-4 doing random supply checks on Auto's orders…_

M-O was actually surprised to hear that. He had never liked GO-4, finding the other bot to be a bullying little narc. He had never really had a problem with Auto until recently, though still, it was strange to find himself suddenly indebted to the two bots.

_I'm glad they did…_

D-FIB hummed happily, her eyes turning to happy lines as she leaned in and sparked M-O again. This time, the little cleaner managed to keep his balance, despite being even happier the second time around. He had never expected to fall in love, even after discovering the possibility existed for robots as much as it did for humans. Now, he wouldn't trade the way he was feeling for the world.

D-FIB finally released him after a moment. _Hey, guess what! I'm fixed! The bots at the Repair Ward fixed me while I was waiting for you._

M-O didn't ask how he had ended up there this time, the memory returning shortly after he and D-FIB had left. He was glad she was working properly now, though he figured it best not to mention part of the reason was because now she was less likely to seriously hurt him if she got mad enough to zap him now.

_That's great! Hey, why don't we go let the others know?_

She nodded herself in agreement and, giggling again, hooked a paddle into his scrub brush and began to tow him through the Axiom and back to their friends.

**The End**


End file.
